One of the things I always like about Swanberg's pictures ("Drinking Buddies," "Happy Christmas," et. al.) is how the characters' lives are always framed around work: however certain viewers might gripe about their dwelling unduly on the personal woes of twentysomethings, to my mind, there's something astute and Douglas Coupland-esque about their refusal to act like the people they're showing us don't have to go back to work, make sure their love lives are stabilized while on break, then patch things up during lunch or on the week-end, etc.
This one's charming and unpredictable and savvy, which makes it, it would appear, a bit of a problem for the non-astute viewer used to being hit over the head: it's not "drama," it's drama. (Check out the part where the guy observes, "Office Romance: Good idea or Bad Idea? Bad Idea, but, okay ... now what?" Somehow these things don't come up in rom-coms where everyone can afford airfare easily.)
Whimsical disappointment, and, I guess whimsical "spoiler" alert: the movie's got a slinky in it, but we never see it going down "the stairs"! ("What! I paid $8 to see this? Show me the slinky ... going all the way!")
This one's charming and unpredictable and savvy, which makes it, it would appear, a bit of a problem for the non-astute viewer used to being hit over the head: it's not "drama," it's drama. (Check out the part where the guy observes, "Office Romance: Good idea or Bad Idea? Bad Idea, but, okay ... now what?" Somehow these things don't come up in rom-coms where everyone can afford airfare easily.)
Whimsical disappointment, and, I guess whimsical "spoiler" alert: the movie's got a slinky in it, but we never see it going down "the stairs"! ("What! I paid $8 to see this? Show me the slinky ... going all the way!")